Tales of mischief from the eyes of a pibble named Mia

Play hard, work later?…

…or was it Play harder, work never? No wait..it’s Play hard, Play Harder! Right???

I know what you’re thinking…this girl just plays all day every day, amiright? Little did you know…my humom is what some people call a “Tiger Mom”. Yup, I know, it’s confusing..how is a human a tiger at the same time???

Mind you, she uses the term “Tiger Mom” loosely. What I mean is, she will always have high expectations when it comes to obedience/commands and behaving well but she will never physically discipline me. She believes in positive reinforcement which means I always get lots of praise and yummy treats to encourage good behavior! We always try to practice a little bit everyday, or at least a few times a week so that I do well in my classes and behave well in public.

She’s probably a bit stricter than most dog owners but it’s only because she’s trying to protect me. I don’t know why I need protection, I’m a pretty tough girl I can protect myself! She says there are people in this world that will judge me before they get to know me. They have the power to remove me from my home and even have me put down! How horrible is that??? That’s why my humom says I have to be a good girl in public and not bark or growl at strangers on the street or in the trails (unless we are actually in danger then she says I can bark).

My humom says I have been doing very well in my obedience classes, I’m already taking the Advanced class!

We’re learning off leash heeling, walking sits and downs, drop on recall, sit/down stay (where the humans leave the room) and all the other things we’ve learned in intermediate class.

Sometimes, I also get to drop in on the intermediate class that’s after my advanced class to review some of the things I’ve already learned. (My humom would call this a Tiger Mom moment). We go over loose leash walking, sit says, down stays, hand signal only commands, figure 8’s, recall, right turns, left turns and finish.

I like this class because I get to see my doggy daycare buddy Frankie! She’s a Boston Terrier mix but her humom thinks shes mostly Boston Terrier. Frankie can be pretty shy with humans but she likes my humom a lot. Frankie will run to greet her when she sees us come out from our advanced class.

Frankie: Pssst!…Mia! Mia!

Mia: Shhhh!!! Don’t distract me Frankie! You’re going to get us in trouble!

Sometimes it’s hard to concentrate on our sit stays because we just want to play!

This is Reggie. She’s a Parson Russell Terrier. She always tries to play with me and I’d like to play with her too but my humom doesn’t let me because she’s too small. She’s afraid I will accidentally hurt Reggie because I can play a little rough and I’m very strong and muscular. Reggie looks like she would be super fun to play with! Isn’t she adorable??? She’s actually in my advanced class but she drops into the intermediate class sometimes too.

These are my advanced class buddies.

We’re doing a long down stay while the humans go to another room where we can’t see them. My humom is so sneaky, she took a spy shot from a tiny window in the wall!

This is Cindy. My humom says Cindy’s off leash heeling puts us to shame so we have to work harder. (That’s another Tiger Mom moment by the way…*rolleyes*)

This is Max. He looks like he could be a lot of fun to play with but his human doesn’t let him play after class.

My humom likes putting me in these classes because before we even get home I’m already wiped! I’ll be passed out in the car on the way home!

Do your humans ever put you in classes like obedience or agility? Share it in the comments!

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24 thoughts on “Play hard, work later?…”

What a super star student you are Mia! Your Tiger Mom is pawsome for giving you loads of opportunities to show your furbulous personality. Sam did obedience classes and a Canine Good Citizen class. Being the human magnet he is, he loved all the pawrents as well as the dogs and did surprisingly well. Every time we’d pull up to the class, he’d get super excited since he adored the instructor. Hope you had a wonderful nap after all that hard playing. 🙂

Thank you! ❤ I still need some work on my manners though. When I get excited with new people I tend to bark at them and it scares them away but really I just want to play with them! I need to learn some tips from Sam!

Mia, you make me miss those days with Lexi. I guess I was a tiger mom with her, too. You, dear girl, are a super star!! P.S. If anyone ever tries to take you away from your Mom, you can come lay low at our house.. 🙂

It’s sad that humans will judge you by your breed, but your momma is right on to train you so well! I LOVED going to classes. I did beginner, intermediate, advanced, and rally, and I was valedictorian in all of them! We just didn’t have time to keep them up. Jessie did beginner, but she was diagnosed with her kidney issues right before finishing beginner, and Momma was too busy with vet visits to take her to more classes. She says she regrets that now, because Jessie can be kinda Cujo-esque on walks.

Yeah, my humom gets sad every time people grab their dogs and walk around us when we’re in the trails because I’m really good and calm when I greet other dogs. They just don’t give me a chance 😦 Wow you are a pro!! Nice work!! I’m sure there’s still hope for Jessie! My mom had to get a private trainer for me to deal with my night time walking issues. Certain things will make me react and I can be a little Cujo-esque too.

Mia, it sounds like you are doing great in your classes. Keep up the good work. Tippy hasn’t taken any group classes, but I have had personalized training for her. I would love to get her the Good Canine Citizenship training. May do that at some point. I think she would enjoy it.

I’ve been hearing about this Good Canine Citizenship training…it sounds quite challenging for me because I cannot sit patiently while people pet me. I always want to jump up on them to lick their faces! If Tippy goes through that training program please keep me updated on her progress! I would love to see!

You have the cutest classmates, Mia, but I have a definite feeling you’re the star. I loved my obedience classes. Mommy and I did beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Then we got together with some of my classmates and did “post-graduate” studies until I was about 6 years old (I’m eight now). My little sister did beginner and intermediate. She repeated intermediate because she was a little young (aka unfocused) the first time around. The results were definitely better the second time. 😉 She and Mommy also did agility, which they both loved, but it gets so hot here for the outdoor classes. Have you and your mom done agility? You’d love it!

Mia, sweet pup, I’m sorry people are so quick to judge. Sounds like your mom is making sure you are the best behaved pup ever! Good job on all your training. All three of our pups went through 2-3 levels of obedience training. We still practice with them and review a lot especially polite greeting. It’s hard to remember to not jump on people when they are so happy to see them. Keep up the good work! ~ Margret